In one word as cliche as it might sound, traveling to me means to be free. It means to not visit a place, but rather to immerse yourself in it, to learn and to be open to whatever comes your way on your adventures. Although traveling is often about the destination & your experience there, it is also an opportunity to be independent and to grow as a person.

Somewhere far from home would be our time spent in Banff, Canada last year. It is one of the most pristine & beautiful landscapes around that region. Somewhere closer to home, and that trumps any ‘overseas’ spot, would be my road trips in Southern Africa. More particularly, Zimbabwe & Zambia are two of the best places in the world for me, with some of the friendliest people around. I just feel at peace when I’m there.

Canada, again. The huge Rocky Mountains & snow-tipped trees is something that we don’t get to experience in South Africa, so it felt as though I was in a winter wonderland. Every opportunity is a photo opportunity when you’re out there, it’s really hard to take a bad photo, unless you point your camera at your feet, which would probably still look good.

For me, it’s to instil & inspire a thirst for adventure. It’s helping people to understand that traveling does not always mean jumping on a plane & going across the world, it’s jumping in the car for a day & exploring your own surroundings. I guess I just want to share my little bit of positivity with whoever is willing to listen through my photographs, blog posts & YouTube videos. Maybe a little laughter too :)

The first one is my South African passport. I love my country, but our passport really sucks! The amount of visa hassles that I have at embassies & with immigration officers is countless, and it also means that I can’t go on spontaneous trips if the offer arises, I have to plan in advance (if I need a visa for the country). Thats why for me, local is lekker ;) 

The difficulty that I’ve really found hard to deal with this year after my studies, is that most of my friends are in very mainstream jobs, such as lawyers, engineers, teachers, doctors, accountants etc. and work 9-5 from Monday to Friday. The schools that we went to in Cape Town, as well as university, are very geared towards producing these careers through no fault of their own, but I almost feel guilty for not going to work everyday from 9-5, but rather working from home. This year has also had a very slow start, so many days I actually end up not doing a whole lot. But, things are looking promising, the rest of the year is looking busy & I can’t wait to start really giving this my all.

Hmm, 2 people. The first is actually my boyfriend, Ben. When he started this whole social media career, many of us, including myself, thought that he was crazy. I was also very opposed to the fact that he would share everything, including our private life, with whoever wanted to see it through his daily vlogs. Many people doubted him but he kept at it, and look where he is now? He is loving life, doing his dream job & is very successful. He is always the first person to make sure that I keep my head up if I start to doubt myself.

The second person is Casey Neistat. That guy is crazy. His content is genius, laid-back & positive. He is the first person whose content I will watch when I log online (don’t tell Ben), and he really drives me to work hard, because Casey, like Ben, is a shining example of where hard work will get you. No work, no reward!

Ooh, Iceland. And the Maldives.

I’ve always written since I was a little girl. I used to write down song lyrics, random thoughts, letters to friends & I used to write very descriptive stories of our family holidays in the bush. I then forgot about writing as school & sport took over, my interests changed & my time for creative writing was few & far between. In my second year at university, we had to create a blog based on a topic that we enjoyed for an assignment, and that’s where I started to regain my love for writing and continued to write after the assignment was due. I forgot about it again until Ben bought my current domain name, and gave it to me as a birthday present. And I haven’t stopped writing since...

Just do it! Don’t wait until you’re finished school or university, start now on the sideline. If I could have known the opportunities & content that writing & making videos can give, I would have started taking this all more seriously when I was at school. The problem is that has all become saturated so if you want your work to stand out, you have to be consistent & be of quality. 

Never. Well, when I was 6, I was certain that I wanted to be a shop-keeper because opening the register was fun. I guess that changed! I was and still am interested in a lot of things, and I would have always chosen a career that lets me be out in the field as opposed to behind a desk. I considered going into wild animal conservation & environmentalism or a game ranger at one stage, but I was never 100% certain. I would still love to do that on the side-line especially considering the dwindling rhino populations & elephant ivory situation, an issue which is close to home.